Hewitt leads first-place Georgia Southern to 83-46 win
STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) Jelani Hewitt scored 17 points on the strength of five 3-pointers and Trent Wiedeman added 16 points and Georgia Southern cruised to an 83-46 victory over Appalachian State on Thursday night.
The Mountaineers (8-11, 5-5 Sun Belt) came in on a four-game winning streak, but trailed 33-16 at halftime before being outscored by 20 points in the second half by the Eagles (14-4, 7-2).
Angel Matias added 13 points and Eric Ferguson 11 for the Eagles, who shot only 40 percent in the first half but finished 33 of 63 for 52.4 percent, including 12 of 23 from 3-point range. They were outrebounded 42-34 but made 14 steals as the Mountaineers ended up with 18 turnovers.
Appalachian State didn't have a player reach double figures. The Mountaineers finished 17 of 59 for 28.8 percent.
The victory was the third straight for Georgia Southern, which stayed atop the Sun Belt standings.
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South Alabama edges UL Lafayette 89-85
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) Taishaun Johnson scored 23 points and South Alabama edged UL Lafayette 89-85 on Thursday.
South Alabama (7-14, 5-5 Sun Belt) trailed by 10 points at the half, 43-33, but eventually pulled ahead on a pair of free throws by Johnson, followed by Barrington Stevens' jumper that made it 64-60 with 7:31 left.
Shawn Long made a pair of 3-pointers, the second with 32 seconds left, to pull the Ragin' Cajuns within two. But the Jaguars made 6 of 8 free throws inside of 31 seconds to seal the victory.
Johnson was 6 of 10 from the floor and 9 of 10 from the line. Ken Williams had 19 points while Stevens finished with 17 points, seven boards and six assists. Dionte Ferguson chipped in 16 points with four blocked shots.
Long paced UL Lafayette (11-10, 5-5) with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Kasey Shepherd added 20 points with five 3-pointers.
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UL Monroe defeats Troy in overtime 58-55
TROY, Ala. (AP) Mack Foster scored a career-high 15 points and Majok Deng also had 15 to lead UL Monroe to a 58-55 overtime victory over Troy on Thursday night.
Foster scored four points and Justin Roberson two in a 6-0 run to begin overtime. Musa Abdul-Aleem and Kevin Thomas responded with baskets for Troy to trail 56-54 with 1:49 left. Troy had a chance to take the lead when Deng was called for a flagrant-one foul. But Thomas missed both free throws and the Trojans also couldn't convert after the inbounds. Roberson added two free throws for the final score.
Abdul-Aleem led Troy (7-12, 2-8 Sun Belt) with 17 points. Thomas had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his 11th career double-double. Wesley Person scored 11 points and John Walton III added 10.
The Trojans led by 10 at halftime and were up 13 with 18:39 left in regulation. The Warhawks (13-8, 7-3) rallied to tie with 8:55 left and the game stayed close with Foster sending the game to overtime with a 3-pointer with 1:18 to go.
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